Welcome to the Show

PhotoFair is one of the largest camera shows in the West. This thrice annual event features a 6000 square foot event hall filled with table after table of great photo gear. Dealers and buyers from all over the world attend this show. Guests are invited to bring their gear in to sell or come to peruse the thousands of deals on cameras, lenses, vintage, modern, film, digital, darkroom, professional lighting and so much more. This past August a fourth show was added in Portland! Click here for info about the Rose City PhotoFair.

Need Cash? Sell your unwanted gear for top dollar at PhotoFair!

Before you buy online, come to PhotoFair and enjoy the tangible benefits of a more tactile experience whereby you actually hold and operate the item before you decide to buy. Many people find that buying at the show is actually a better value than buying online. Prices are often lower than comparable items on such sites as EBAY and there is not shipping charges or perhaps worse shipping delays. See it, touch it, want it, buy it, walk out with it immediately. This is a much better experience in my opinion.

PhotoFair is a place to exchange gear, ideas and even learn about equipment. Many of the dealers that come to the show are virtual fountains of information and experience.

Click on the “Upcoming Shows” tab to find the scheduled shows for the next year. Follow our news feed for information, special dealer profiles and photography related articles.

History of the show.

Photo Fair began in 1975 with the first show in January of that year. Founder Dave Cox built the show up to four large events every year, peaking in the 1990s with giant shows in both San Jose, CA and San Mateo, CA. Graham and I attended those monster shows as exhibitors in the heyday of the camera craze.

The show experienced a decline in the early 2000s and was acquired in 2004 by a wonderful couple; Ken Morton and Petra Kellers. They built the show back up to become one of the largest on the West Coast. The shows were in San Jose and later at the current location in Newark.

Ken and Petra decided to retire from the show promotion business and long time dealer exhibitors, Graham Law and Rod Sager negotiated to acquire the business and become the new owner/promoters of the Photo Fair in November of 2014. Graham and Rod see a new wave of camera craze with all the modern technology being able to interface with vintage gear. We have an exciting new generation of people discovering the “art” of photography and PhotoFair is right in the middle of the merger between the vintage and classic gear and all the modern new gear. We have it all under one roof, three times a year.

In March of 2016 is was officially announced that PhotoFair would expand to include a show in Portland, OR. The inaugural Rose City PhotoFair was a success on August 13th, 2016 at the Jackson Armory in Portland Oregon. After a year of preparation PhotoFair finally made it to Rip City!